If you have an ANT+ power meter and a Wahoo KICKR or Wahoo SNAP, you might not be aware of a neat little feature the KICKR/SNAP has. Surprisingly, most people I talked to aren’t aware of it, or know it’s there but don’t have it enabled.
The feature is called PowerMatch and you can find it within the Wahoo Fitness app as “Control w/ANT+ Power Meter”.
WHAT IS POWERMATCH?
PowerMatch allows you to use your power meter as the data source when training instead of your bike trainer’s internal power meter. Many cycling applications support this already such as TrainerRoad and Zwift and when enabled, your power meter will control resistance on your smart trainer.
In Zwift, if you select a power meter as your Power Source and a smart trainer as your “Controllable” trainer as you see in the paired devices screen below, power match is enabled by default.
This allows riders to record and display power from their power meter while taking advantage of the resistance control in their smart trainers.
WHY ENABLE IT?
When enabled, the Wahoo KICKR/SNAP pairs to your ANT+ power meter and allows it to control the KICKR resistance. In many cases, this simplifies the pairing process. You only need to pair the KICKR rather than pairing two separate devices. Also, this comes in handy in cases where you only use Bluetooth to connect and your power meter only supports ANT+.
Other areas I found it to be useful is when using Apple TV to run Zwift. Apple TV can only pair to two Bluetooth devices and when this is enabled, you can just pair the KICKR as the power source and controllable trainer, freeing up another Bluetooth port for your heart rate monitor or cadence sensor.
Also, when enabled, you don’t have to perform spin downs to calibrate your Wahoo KICKR/SNAP.
Of course, just like anything, there is the risk of things not working as they should. I’ve had my power meter fail on numerous occasions. Using this feature will only work as good as the connection between your KICKR and powermeter. But in my years of using it, I’ve never really had any issues that I can remember.
HOW TO ENABLE IT
You need to use the Wahoo Fitness app to enable this feature and know your power meter ANT+ ID. The ID can be found on the power meter itself or if you pair it to a Garmin device, for example, you should be able to find it in you pair devices menu under more information.
Follow these steps to enable PowerMatch:
- Open the Wahoo Fitness app and pair to your Wahoo KICKR/SNAP
- Under saved sensors, tap on your KICKR/SNAP
- Toggle the “Control w/ANT+ Power Meter”
- Under ANT+ Power Device ID, enter your power meter ANT+ ID
That’s it. You should see a power meter icon next to your trainer and next time you workout, the KICKR will pair to your power meter and use it instead of its own power meter.
Also, here is a quick video on how to do that:
Thanks for reading!
I am still not sure why I would want to enable PowerMatch. Is this feature for people who trust their power meter more than the power measurement in their smart trainer?
Let’s say, I have the following:
– 2018 KICKR
– Stages power meter
– Apple TV
– Zwift
Why wouldn’t I rely on the power meter built into my 2018 KICKR?
As a follow-up, if I use my Stages for power measurement on Zwift, can I also use it for cadence instead of having a separate cadence sensor?
Thanks!
Usually, athletes tend to like to use one single powermeter for training indoor and outdoor. Even though both powermeters can be very close, they can still vary in measurement and you can possibly see +/-4% difference between the KICKR and another powermeter. So it’s usually better to use one single powermeter for consistency.
Hello. I followed the instructions and I can see that my power pedals (non Bluetooth) are driving the Kickr while using the Wahoo fitness app. I use Zwift. By doing this setup will Zwift use my power pedals?
Yes it should as long as you pair the KICKR as a power source in the Zwift menu.
So the zwift screen you show above is *not* how you should have it set up? If set up correctly, that zwift screen would show kickr for both the power source and the controllable?
Use the Wahoo Fitness app to setup the external power to control the Kickr as shown on the first image. When you login to Zwift, select the Kickr as the power source.
I sent Wahoo an email asking about the setup before asking Tariq the same question. Tariq responded right away while Wahoo took almost 2 weeks. I’m running Zwift on a Apple TV and have ANT+ power pedals on my wife’s bike and BT power pedals on mine. When I ride Zwift I use my BT pedals and was curious about the interaction after I setup my wife’s pedals to control the Kickr. Here is Wahoo’s response on the matter:
Thank you for reaching out. The ‘Control with ANT+ Power Meter’ mode is primarily designed for use with the Wahoo Fitness app rather than a 3rd party app such as Zwift. In most cases, once this mode has been correctly set up in the app, the trainer will continue to use the power meter for data once the connection to the Fitness app is closed and it is connected with another app, however this configuration has not been fully tested and is unsupported. Zwift natively supports the connection of an external power meter in addition to the KICKR and we would recommend using this functionality rather than the external control mode set up through our app, additionally this functionality would be available for BT and ANT+ power meters.
The Fitness app should never be used at the same time as Zwift as the two apps will compete for control of the trainer and this will result in undesirable performance from the trainer.
When the external control mode is configured but a power meter is not connected, the trainer will revert to its internal power meter for data broadcast.
Chris, that screenshot was meant to describe how Zwift supports powermatch natively if you can pair your powermeter to Zwift directly. The Wahoo powermatch is just another option available if for some reason you can’t pair your powermeter to Zwift. For example, your powermeter only supports ANT+ connection and you use Zwift on a Bluetooth only device.
can you use this with trainer road? i’m having all sorts of issues with power natch in trainer road so i’d like to try to see if i still have the same issues pairing to the trainer directly then pairing the trainer to trainer road.
Yes you can. Just pair the kickr as a trainer in TR and don’t pair your powermeter to TR.
I have my stages set up this way to control kickr, and it works well in standard mode, it when I do a zwift workout in erg mode, what the zwift app shows for power (and makes me work at) reads on average 20 watts higher than what my garmin shows if I pair it to my stages PM. It’s not consistently 20 watts though–bounces around from as little as 5 to as much as 35 watts discrepancy. So it’s not like I can just -20 watts for outdoor training.
Any thoughts as to what’s going on here and how to correct?
Thank you!
That’s strange since you said it works in sim mode. Did you try doing an Erg workouts using the wahoo app to see if it keep the connection? Also, do you have power smoothing enabled for the kickr? If so, turn it off.
hey Tariq!
when I connect my kickr to my powermater via the iOS app, and then us the kickr with Trainerroad should I add just the trainer or trainer and powermeter in powermatch mode?
Does options in Wahoo App actually program the trainer for use with other apps or just sets the kickr up for using it in the wahoo app?
how this makes sense
please help
best
Piotr
Just pair the Kickr to other apps. No need to add your powermeter in TrainerRoad.
wow Tariq! that was lightning fast. THANK YOU
loving the videos you do!
Good morning Tariq,
I know this article is a bit old, but I found it super helpful for what I’ve been trying to do. Specifically, with Zwift and the limit of 2 BT connections. That said, I follow this process this morning and while everything appears correct and my Zwift Workout did use ERG, it did not use the power meter. I know this because it was using KICKR power smoothing, RPE was off, but more importantly I had my meter paired to my Garmin and I did a file comparison after the fact… off by 10 watts.
So… is there an affirmative way for me to validate that it’s “working”? You mention that the KICKR icon in the Wahoo app would show a power meter next to it. I definitely don’t see that, but I’m not sure if the user interface is the same in the new Wahoo app (and just doesn’t show the power meter anymore)?
Might the fact that I had the Garmin on and paired be creating the problem? Right now the Quarq is paired to Garmin via ANT+… not sure if there is an option for me to pair via Bluetooth. I’ll try that tonight, but thought you might have some guidance on this.
Thanks for any advice you can provide.
Hello Dave,
You mentioned that you didn’t see the power icon in the Wahoo app. Did you start a workout? I will have to go back and check but last time I did this using their new app, I had to start a workout to see the icon.
Also, make sure you disable to ERG mode power smoothing in the wahoo fitness app. I think that’s causing the 10 watts difference you saw when you compared the two files.
The workout was done in Zwift so my assumption was that I make the setting in the Wahoo app which would write the setting to the trainer, and then I closed the app. In Zwift, I selected the KICKR as the power source. Are you saying I need to keep the Wahoo app open while in Zwift for this to work?
I don’t think it was the smoothing, I think it didn’t use the meter but I will definitely turn it off next time. Outside of the power graph I could tell the RPE was off.
Sorry, I meant to say, if you want to validate the kickr is picking up your powermeter, start a workout in the Wahoo Fitness app and check to see if the power icon appears. If it does, then your kickr is paired to your power meter. If not, make sure you have the correct ANT+ ID entered in the app. And yes, turn off the power smoothing option in the wahoo fitness app.
Thanks. I’ll give that a whirl. Have a great day!
I have tried this on Zwift and while it does work, I was hoping for my wahoo Elemnt to still display the power as well. Was hoping to have zwift use it and the Elemnt use it at the same time. Is that not possible?
Thanks!
Alight, so with this question – I’m going to combine two of your posts. So, with the KICKR controlled via ANT+ Power can you also pair your Garmin head-unit and pair the trainer, so you control the watts in Zwift? If so, I’ve tried several combos and haven’t been able to get it to work.
Yes, you can pair the kickr to Zwift as the power source and as a controllable trainer. Then pair it as a trainer to your Garmin to record your workout on your Garmin. If you want to control the trainer using your Garmin, just disconnect the KICKR as Controllable from Zwift.
Where do I find the ANT+ Power Device ID?
It depends on the device. Some have it on the device itself. If you have a bike computer like a Garmin or Wahoo Elemnt or a Garmin watch, you will be able to see the device ID when you pair it as a sensor.
What about for the Kickr? I can’t find any information specific to the Kickr on where to find the device ID.
In the Wahoo Fitness App, pair your KICKR and go to sensor info and it should be listed there.
Thank you! Naturally, it was in the one place I didn’t think to look.
Great info
Ive a kickr 1 and am trying to find the feature to power match, but on my wahoo app it doesnt come up.
I have paired the kickr and my stages that I wanna use as powermatch.
But when i go into the fitness app, select kickr, no into sensor info there are notnthe screens to toggle to ‘control w-ant+power’, but in the indoor cycling profile it shows linked sensors of the kickr and the stages. Will this be enough?
Thanks
I’m in the same boat. I assume it’s because I’ve got an Android phone, not iOS. But hoping that it is possible in Android too…
Great info this, but i am struggling to make power match work, I think! I’ve got the fitness app, Kickr and Stages PM I want to use to control power for consistency v road.
In the app I can add my kickr and using add sensors the Stages.
when I go into Kickr the above screens are not available for me to toggle ‘control w/ant+ power meter’ , all I can see is basic sensor info,
But in ‘profiles’ Indoor cycling I have linked sensors the stages & kickr, is this enough to make it work?
Thanks great post
I saw your video and was excited to try this on my SNAP, however, I did not see the option. I contacted Wahoo Support and they told me that Power Match was not available on the SNAP. I verified my app is up to date and so is my firmware.
Here is their reply: Thank you for writing into Wahoo Fitness Support. Unfortunately, this feature is not available for the Snap. It will show up in the app, but it will not work. I do apologize, and I have passed this on to the product managers to evaluate.
How do you find your ANT+ ID?
If you have a Garmin device or any
Other device or app that you can pair to using ANT+, it should display an ant+ ID for your power meter. Some PM have the ANT+ ID on them.
Hi,
After enabling power matching in the wahoo app, does it only work if you use wahoo’s own app to control the kickr, or will it still work if you use a different head unit to control the kicker such as a Garmin Edge 830?
Thanks,
Mark
Once you setup power match with the KICKR, it should always use it as long as it finds and pair to your PM regardless of the app/device you use.
Hey Tariq! Hey Tariq! When using power match with the Wahoo Control with power meter option, does this work if you pair your Garmin to the KICKR? Basically, I want to do a workout off the Garmin, with the KICKR in ERG using the Garmin as the power meter (via ant) and then pair the power meter to Zwift via BT (with no controllable). I thought I had done this before but I just tested it and the watts were off wildly making me think Zwift was using power meter and Garmin was using the KICRR.
Hi Dave, so are you using a workout on your Garmin device in ERG mode? It really shouldn’t matter if you paired the KICKR or Garmin pedals to zwift as power. They both should ready the same if the KICKR’s power match is setup properly. I wonder if it’s just a timing display issue. Did you compare both files to see how they match? They should be almost identical.